Protective cap for a concrete pile



Oct. 12, 1965 IORI KIKUCHI PROTECTIVE CAP FOR A CONCRETE PILE Filed Feb. 5, 1963 FIG. 3

FIG.

FIG. 4

FIG.8

INVENTOR. M

FIG. 7

United States Patent O 3,211,241 PROTECTIVE CAP FOR A CONCRETE PILE Iori Kikuchi, 24 Sakurazuk Hondori 4-chome, Toyonaka, Japan Filed Feb. 5, 1963, Ser. No. 256,380 Claims priority, application Japan, Aug. 16, 1962, 37/ 47,255 3 Claims. "(CL 173131) The present invention relates to a protective device for the head end of a concrete pile when driving the pile, and more particularly to a protective device which consists of a protective metal member which encloses the end of the concrete pile, Wedge-shaped members projecting from the outside face of said protecting member, a truncated pyramid member which is positioned over said protective metal member and which has the inside surface thereof engaged with said wedge members, and an impact receiving member at the apex portion of said trucated pyramid, said pyramid member having a wedge receiving hole therethrough which opens into a space left between faces of the protective member and the impact receiving member which oppose each other.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a device which protects the head end of a concrete pile when the concrete pile is driven into the ground, which device fully transmits to said pile the force of a driving impact on said pile, and yet which prevents damage of the end of said pile.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device for protecting the head end of a concrete pile which, after the completion of the pile driving operation, can be disengaged easily from the head end of the pile.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a device for protecting the head end of a concrete pile which is simple to handle and economical to make.

Other desirable advantages and novel features of this invention will be set forth in the following description in connection with the drawings showing an embodi ment of the present invention.

The drawing accompanying and forming part of the present invention illustrate a present preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a concrete pile provided with a device according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are a side view and a front view, respectively, of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the head portion of a concrete pile of a type with which the device of the present invention is particularly useful;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the truncated pyramid member forming part of the device; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 are an outside perspective view and an inside perspective View, respectively, of half of the protective metal member of the device.

In the drawings, a concrete pile 10 which is adapted to form part of a retaining wall or the like, has a crosssection which is a rectangle and is provided with a connecting portion 11 on both edges, and adjacent the head end, a bolt receiving hole 12 extends through the pile for a purpose to be described hereinafter.

One of a pair of protective metal members 13 to be mounted on the head end of the aforementioned pile 10 has, on the outside face of both adjoining vertical side members 14 which are at right angles to each other, one or more wedge members 15 which are inclined downwardly and outwardly of the protective member 13 and which project outwardly from said vertical side members 14. A horizontal triangle-shaped top plate 16 is 3,211,241 Patented Oct. 12, 1965 "Ice connected between upper edge portions of both adjoining side members 14. In one side member 14 is a bolt hole 17.

When a pile 10 is to drive, a pair of said protective metal members 13 and 13 are mounted on the headrend of a pile 10 so as to completely enclose it in a rectangular tube formed by the L-shaped bodies. Each of the side members 14 and 14 lies against the side face of the head end of the pile 10 and top plates 16 and 16 rest on the head end of the pile. In this way, a pair of the aforementioned protective metal members .13 is made to engage tightly with the head end of the concrete pile 10.

After mounting a pair of protective metal members 13 on the head end of the concrete pile 10,. a bolt 18 is inserted through the holes 17 in side members 14 and the hole 12 extending through said pile 10, and the members 13 are bolted tightly by a nut on the bolt 18, thereby fixing a pair of the aforementioned protective metal members 13 to the head end of the concrete pile 10.

A drive fitting 19 is provided in the form of a hollow truncated pyramid, here shown as a frustum of a rectangular pyramid with downwardly and outwardly flaring walls 22. On the apex of the truncated pyramid 19 is an upwardly open recess 21 for mounting an impact receiving block 20. The walls 22 of said pyramid are at an angle which is the same as that of wedge members 15, so that when the drive fitting is mounted on the head end of the concrete pile 10, it engages the wedge members 15 on the protective metal member 13. Adjacent the apex of the faces 22 of said pyramid member which are opposite each other, a wedge receiving hole 23 is provided which opens into a space above the top of the pile 10, which space is left because the Walls 22 project higher than the top faces 16 of the protective metal members 13.

In use, when a concrete pile 10 is driven into the ground, a pair of protective metal members 13 is mounted on the head end of said pile as described above, and, after fixing them with a bolt 18 and a nut, a drive fitting 19 is mounted over the protective metal member 13, and the inner surfaces of walls 22 of said fitting engage with the wedge members 15 on the protective metal members 13. Thereafter, when the impact receiving block 20 mounted in the recess 21 is struck, the power of said impact is transmitted from the wall 22 of the drive fitting 19 through the wedge members 15 that are engaged therewith to the concrete pile 10, and said pile is driven into the ground.

Because the inside surfaces of walls 22 of the drive fitting 19 are engaged only with the wedge members 15 on the protective metal members 13, and moreover, because the protective metal members 13 are fixed tightly to the head end of the sheet pile 10, as compared with conventional caps in which a gap exists between the cap mounted on the head end of a pile and the side of the pile, there is no danger that the head end of the pile will be damaged due to the occurrence of vibration, bending moment, torsion, etc., since the power applied in the direction of the pile is accurately transmitted to the pile 10'.

After the pile 10 is driven into the ground to the depth required, if a wedge is driven in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2 into wedge receiving holes 23 in walls 22 of the drive fitting 19, the lower face of the top 21 of drive fitting 19 is pushed upwardly by the face of said wedge, and said fitting 19 is pulled upwardly from the protective metal members 13.

Thereafter, the bolt 18 is removed, and the protective metal members 13 are taken away from the head end of the pile 10.

It is thought that the invention and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it is apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts: without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A protective cap for a concrete pile for protecting the head end of the pile when it is being driven, comprising a protective member having a top plate and downwardly depending side members depending from the top plate, the protective member being adapted to be fitted tightly onto the head end of the pile, downwardly extending wedge members on the side members of said protective member with the narrow ends adjacent the top plate of said protective member, a drive fitting having downwardly and outwardly flaring walls at the same angle as the taper of said wedge members and resting against said wedge members, the upper end of said drive fitting being spaced from the top plate of said protective member and being adapated to receive impacts for driving the pile.

2. A protective cap as claimed in claim 1 in which two opposed walls of said drive fitting have wedge receiving apertures therein opening into the space between the top plate of said drive fitting and the upper end of said protective member.

3. A protective cap as claimed in claim 1 in which said protective member is a hollow polygonal downwardly open box and is in two parts divided substantially in half along a line across the top plate of the protective member, each part having the vertical side members at an angle to each other and the top plate connected to the upper edges of said side members, and said protective member further comprising means for securing said protective member to the head end of the pile.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 900,140 10/08 Whitehill 173132 1,060,668 5/13 Crawshaw 173-l3l 1,954,070 4/34 Cook 6156.5

CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

JACOB SHAPIRO, EARL J. WITMER, Examiners. 

1. A PROTECTIVE CAP FOR A CONCRETE PIPE FOR PROTECTING THE HEAD END OF THE PILE WHEN IT IS BEING DRIVEN, COMPRISING A PROTECTIVE MEMBER HAVING A TOP PLATE AND DOWNWARDLY DEPENDING SIDE MEMBERS DEPENDING FROM THE TOP PLATE, THE PROTECTIVE MEMBER BEING ADAPTED TO BE FITTED TIGHTLY ONTO THE HEAD END OF THE PILE, DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING WEDGE MEMBERS ON THE SIDE MEMBERS OF SAID PROTECTIVE MEMBER WITH THE NARROW ENDS ADJACENT THE TOP PLATE OF SAID PROTECTIVE MEMBER, A DRIVE FITTING HAVING DOWNWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY FLARING WALLS AT THE SAME ANGLE AS THE TAPER OF SAID WEDGE MEMBERS AND RESTING AGAINST SAID WEDGE MEMBERS, THE UPPER END OF SAID DRIVE FITTING BEING SPACED FROM THE TOP PLATE OF SAID PROTECTIVE MEMBER AND BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE IMPACTS FOR DRIVING THE PILE. 